Muong gong performance - one of the festive activities within the Mo Muong ritual In Ninh Binh province, the Muong people live in concentrated communities across communes such as Cuc Phuong, Phu Son, Phu Long and Lac Van within the (former) mountainous district of Nho Quan. Home to 98% of the local ethnic minority population and boasting a rich treasure trove of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, this area is considered a distinctive “Muong cultural region” situated right next to the Trang An Landscape Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Venturing beyond the familiar cave tour routes of Trang An and Tam Coc, visitors easily discover a completely different world. Villages nestle at the foot of the mountains, stilt houses peek out from beneath the tree canopy and the Muong language resonates through daily life. Stepping into this setting, visitors can truly immerse themselves in Muong culture.
The sound of gongs often heralds the start of cultural experience programs. For the Muong people, gongs are inextricably linked to festivals, seasons of celebration, and significant village events. During the circle gong dance, Muong women, clad in traditional attire play the gongs while moving in a circle, embodying a community spirit preserved across generations.
This cultural landscape is further enriched by Dum singing and lullabies, melodies that, while unadorned, help define the unique character of Mường cultural life. Dum singing is a distinctive form of communal, call-and-response folk singing often performed during festivals, where young men and women gather to socialize. The melodies are gentle and soaring, set to free verse or the traditional six-eight meter, expressing the innermost thoughts, emotions and romantic aspirations of couples. Lullabies, sung with deep feeling and purity, flow like a spring of affection, nurturing the soul and shaping the character of young children, songs passed down orally from generation to generation.
Muong wedding in Yen Son commune, Ninh Binh province What makes Muong culture so uniquely appealing is the opportunity for visitors to join the local community in traditional games such as stilt walking, top-spinning, tug-of-war and gong playing… These simple activities foster a genuine sense of connection, effectively blurring the line between visitors and the custodians of the heritage.
According to local cultural authorities, communes with significant Muong populations currently possess over 300 items of tangible cultural heritage and more than 100 items of intangible cultural heritage; notably, Mo Muong has been inscribed on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This serves as a resource for the locality to develop a community-based tourism model linked to the preservation of ethnic culture. Encouragingly, Muong culture is being accorded its proper place within Ninh Binh province’s heritage tourism development strategy. The local approach is clearly defined: the community is the central actor, culture is the resource, and tourism serves as the bridge. Periodic Muong ethnic cultural and sports festivals not only provide a space for the community to preserve and practice its culture but also create livelihood opportunities for residents right in their hometown.
Visiting Ninh Binh today, travelers can not only row through caves and admire mountain peaks reflected in clear blue waters within the Trang An World Heritage Complex, but also in this ancient capital region, experience the Muong culture, which offers new options rich in cultural depth. It is the experience of sitting by a stilt house, listening to the sound of gongs echoing across the mountains, learning a circle dance or hearing a heartfelt lullaby amidst the highlands at midday...
Muong culture acts like a layer of sediment, making the journey of exploring Ninh Binh province even more captivating. As these values continue to be practiced and passed down, the heritage landscape is defined not merely by the presence of rocky peaks, caves or ancient rivers, but is brought to life by the Muong people's millennia-old cultural identity, an identity that visitors can experience firsthand in the life of the present day./.
